{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Crestfishes | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Eocene|present}} | image = Lophotus capellei.jpg | image_caption = North Pacific crestfish<br />''Lophotus capellei'' | taxon = Lophotidae | authority = Bonaparte, 1845 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = ''Eumecichthys''<br/> ''Lophotus''<br/> †''Babelichthys''<ref name=Davesne>{{cite journal |last1=Davesne |first1=D. |year=2017 |title=A fossil unicorn crestfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Lophotidae) from the Eocene of Iran |journal=PeerJ |volume=5 |article-number=e3381|doi=10.7717/peerj.3381|pmid=28674642 |pmc=5493034 |doi-access=free }}</ref><br/> †''Eolophotes''<ref name=Daniltshenko>{{cite journal |last1=Daniltshenko |first1=P. G. |year=1980 |title=Iskopayemyye kostistyye ryby SSSR [Fossil bony fishes of the USSR] |journal=Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta, Akademiya Nauk CCCP |volume=178}}</ref><br/> †''Protolophotus''<ref name=Walters>{{cite journal |last1=Walters |first1=V. |year=1957 |title=''Protolophotus'', a new genus of allotriognath fish from the Oligocene of Iran |journal=Copeia |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=60–61 |doi=10.2307/1440530|jstor=1440530 }}</ref><br/> †''Oligolophotes''<ref name=Bannikov>{{cite journal |last1=Bannikov |first1=A. F. |year=1999 |title=A review of fossil Lampridiformes (Teleostei) finds with a description of a new Lophotidae genus and species from the Oligocene of the northern Caucasus |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=33 |pages=68–76 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266793718}}</ref> }}
'''Crestfishes''', family '''Lophotidae''', are lampriform fishes found in most oceans.<ref name=FB>{{FishBase family | family = Lophotidae | month = November| year = 2014}}</ref> It consists of two extant<ref name=FB/><ref name=Nelson>{{Cite book| last = Nelson| first = J. S.| title = Fishes of the World| author-link = Joseph S. Nelson| location = Hoboken, NJ| date = 2006| edition = 4| publisher = John Wiley & Sons| isbn = 978-0-471-25031-9| page=229| title-link = Fishes of the World}}</ref> and four extinct genera.<ref name=Davesne/>
They are elongated, ribbon-like fishes, silver in color, found in deep tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Their scientific name is from Greek ''lophos'' meaning "crest" and refer to the crest (part of the dorsal fin) that emerges from the snout and head; this structure gives them their other name of '''unicorn fishes'''.
The extant genera all possess ink sacs that open into their cloacae from which they can produce a cloud of black ink when threatened (as in many cephalopods).<ref name="honma et al.">{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/BF02674944 |last1=Honma |first1=Yoshiharu |last2=Ushiki |first2=Tatsuo |last3=Takeda |first3=Masaei |title=Histology of the ink tube and its associated organs in a unicornfish, ''Eumecichthys fiskii'' (Lampridiformes) |journal=Ichthyological Research |volume=46 |issue=1 |date=Feb 1999 |pages=19–25|bibcode=1999IchtR..46...19H |s2cid=25284408 }}</ref>
== Genera == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Extant Genera !Image |- |''Eumecichthys'' |frameless|480x480px Unicorn crestfish (''E. fiski'') |- |''Lophotus'' |frameless|480x480px Crested bandfish (''L. guntheri'') |- !Fossil Genera !Image |- |†''Babelichthys'' |frameless|480x480px ''†Babelichthys olneyi'' |- |†''Eolophotes'' |frameless|480x480px †''Eolophotes lenis'' |- |†''Protolophotus'' |frameless|480x480px †''Protolophotus elami'' |- |†''Oligolophotes'' |frameless|480x480px †''Oligolophotes fragosus'' |}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q432116}}
Category:Lophotidae Category:Actinopterygii families
{{Lampriformes-stub}}